Edge cutter for shoes



Nov. 25, 1941. J. HOZA EDGE CUTTER FOR'SHOES Filed 'Ma 13,. 1940 EddPatented Nov. 25, 1941 OFFICE 2,263,700 1 EDGE CUTTER FOR SHOES JohnHoza, Bea s, Md.

Application May 13, 1940, Serial sagas In Czechoslovakia July 30, 1938 a13 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine comprising mechanism for cutting offthe edges of shoes in the manufacture thereof, especially overshoes,galoshes and rubber shoes of all sizes.

Heretofore it has been customary to cut off the edges of shoes such asaforesaid by hand, by means of scissors. Such handwork is subject to theusual disadvantage that it is slow. Moreover, it is performed withoutexactitude, and the bevelling-off is irregular, with the result thatshoes with hand-cut edges are often unsightly,

An object of this invention is to provide a machine having mechanism forcutting off the edges of shoes and serving to improve the cutting-offoperation both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Another object .is to guide and feed the Work in an efficient manner.

Another object is to provide mechanism comprising control meansforvarying the feed of the shoe to an edge-cutting knife during theoperation of said mechanism with constant cutting speed so that thecurved form of the edge can be varied.

Another object is to provide mechanism comprising meansyfor adjustingthe angular relationship between the knife and the work so that thebevel of the edge can be regulated and will be cut with overalluniformity.

Another object of the invention is to provide edge-cutting means sooperable, adjustable and controllable that a wide variety of shoescan beturned out.

said forked arm bearing against the disc 5. The lever 4, at its oppositeend, is connected by a rod (not shown) to a control pedal. A controlpull-rod I is mounted for sliding axial movement in the shaft 6; and across-pin 8 extendingdiametrally through the ferrule I passes through ahole in the rod I and is guided in longitudinal slots in the shaft 6.The rod I is urged and normally maintained towards the left, as viewedin Fig. 1, by a spring 2 arranged in the shaft 6 andjpressing againstthe right-hand end of the rod I.

There is formed in the surface of the pull-rod I, near its left-handend, a recess 9 which has an inclined base and which is engaged by aregulating screw I0 extending through the shaft 6 and retained in placeby a safety screw I I. Both of these screws are threaded in an eccentric3 (Figs. 1 and 2). Screws I3 and I4 connect the eccentric'3 to a carrierflange I2 which is secured fast to the shaft'fi. The, screw 14 passesfore is pivotable, to vary its eccentricity to a l limited extent, aboutthe'screw I3. "I'heshaft 6 Other objects of the invention will appearfrom the following specification and claims.

:The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of the edgecutting mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in section, looking towards the left handend of the assembly denoted generally by A in Fig. 1.

The edge-cutting mechanism comprises, on the one hand, an assemblyforperforming the feed motion applied to the shoe and controlling thelength of said motion and,-on the other hand, an assembly for operatingand adjusting the inclination of the knife. and their functions will nowbe described.

The machine in which the mechanism shown is incorporated includes a maindriving shaft 6 journalled for'rotation in bearings (not shown) in theframe of the machine, said shaft being motor driven. A disc 5, a flangedferrule l and an intermediate thrust washer 6 made of fibre, areallarranged against one another and embrace the shaft 6. The disc 5 isrestrained against rotation with the shaft by a pin 5 which engages arecess in the forked arm of a lever 4,

These two assemblies a of the rod I.

passes right throughboth the flange I2 and the eccentric 3. A small pador brake block I5, which is seated in the eccentric 3, is pressed by aspring l'l. against the shaft 6. The spring IT bears upon a retainingscrew [8 in the eccentric 3. The function of the spring I! is tomaintain the screw I 0 against the inclined bas of the recess 9 and thusto urge the eccentric 3 to adopt its most central, or least eccentricsetting, the actual setting being determined by the axial position Astrap or pulley I9 is journalled on the eccentric 3 and extendslaterally therefrom. A post 20 is slidabl through the strap l9 and issecured fast to a pivotally mounted body 2l which carries the limb 22 atthe end of When the shaft 6 and eccentric 3 thereon are t rotated, thestrap I9 and post 20 are caused to rock,the post sliding in relation tothe strap during this rocking motion. The result of this action is thata to-and-fro or reciprocatory lateral motion is imparted to the foot 23,which motion combines with the aforesaid vertical reciprocating motionto produce a stepwise feed motion impartedby the foot 23. The amplitudeof the 'reciprocatory' lateral motion and therefore the magnitude of thestepwise feed motion are proportional to the stroke of the eccentric 3.

' In use of the mechanism described, a shoe 3 is placed upon a lower.arm 39 of the frame and the machine is'put in operation. The machine isnormally set to give the shoe the customary,

The aforesaid pedal is not depressed in the normal setting of themachine, and therefore the spring 2 maintains the pull-rod I pressed inits endmost position towards the left, in which position the cocentric 3is maintained in its most central setting by the spring l1, the screwthen being at the deepest end of recess 9. That is, the ecfoot 23 alsois sh'ortest.

As soon as the edge is to be out to a slightly incurving form, the feedis increased. This is effected by depressing the pedal attached to thelever 4. Thus, the lever is turned so that its forked end presses theassembly of shaft-embracing parts 5, 6 and 1 towards the right, and thecross-pin 8 transmits this motion to me rod I, so that the inclined baseof recess 9 acts like a cam to displace the screw II] radially outwardsagainst the pressure of spring I1. Accordingly, the eccentric 3 ispivoted into a setting of greater eccentricity and proportionatelyincreases the length of feed applied by the foot 23 to the shoe edgebeing out.

By depressing further, or by relieving more or less the pressure on, thepedal connected to lever 4, the control rod l is moved further to theleft, or returned more or less to the right, so that the eccentricity ofeccentric 3 is increased or decreased and the length or rate of feed isproportionately increased or decreased.

With reference now to the knife operating and adjusting assembly, asshown in Fig. 1, screw gears 24, 25 transmit drive from the main shaftto a crankshaft 26, on one end of which a crank 21 is provided. A pitman28 driven by the crank 21 has an extension 29 which is connected to oneend of a bellcrank lever 30. The length of the entire pitman can beadjusted at will by temporarily slackening the connection between theparts 28, 29. The fulcrum pin 3| of the lever 30 is secured to a lugprojecting from a guide-block 32 which is angularly adjustable around asegment 33 secured by screws 34, 35 on the frame of the machine. Theother end of lever 30 slidably enters a hole penetrating a cylindricaljournal pin turnably mounted in the holder 31 of the knife 33. Theholder 31 is guided to reciprocate at an inclination in the angularlyadjustable guide-block 32. The extent of angular adjustment of the block32, and therefore of the inclination of the knife 38, is about 10 to 30.The setting of the guide-block 32 on the segment 33 is selected, and canbe adjusted by means of the holder 31, before the commencement of theoperation of the machine, or before work starts upon a different form ofshoe requiring a different inclination or bevel of the edge to be cut.The length of the pitman 28, 29 is or may be simultaneously adjusted.

The frame of the machine terminates below in the work-supporting arm 39,To this arm a counter-knife is fastened. The adjustable knife 38isreciprocated by the crank and pitman acting through the lever 30 andholder 31 and cooperates with' the counter-knife to shear the materialof the upper at the edge thereof.

The operation and regulation of the feed of the shoe is in no respectdependent upon the actuation of the knife. Accordingly, the feed can bevaried atwill while the cutting speed remains constant. Thus, the formof the shoe-edge curvature is variable under the operator's control ofthe pedal-operated lever 4 and parts operated thereby.

The arrangement of the lower work-supporting arm 39 is veryadvantageous, as it renders possible the cutting-out of edges of widevariety.

Modifications may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention hereinafter claimed. For example, instead of varying theinclination of the knife, the arrangement may be such that it is theinclination of the shoe edge which is varied.

I claim:

1. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a supportfor a shoe, rotary means, a knife adapted to work in relation to saidsupport, a counter-knife on said support adapted to co-operate with saidknife, feed means including a reciprocable shoe-engaging member movablein relation to said support to feed the shoe edge to said knife andcounter knife, a transmission from said rotary means to said member forimparting reciprocating feed motion thereto, control means applied tosaid rotary means for regulating the amplitude of reciprocation of saidmotion to vary the extent of feeding thereby, means guiding said knifeto cut at an inclination to said shoe edge, and means operated by saidrotary means actuating said knife.

2. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a supportfor a shoe, rotary means, a knife adapted to work in relation to saidsupport, a counter-knife on said support adapted to co-operate with saidknife, feed means including a reciprocable shoe-engaging member movablein relation to said support to feed the shoe edge to said knife andcounterknife, control means applied to said rotary means for regulatingthe amplitude of reciprocation of said member to vary the rate offeeding thereby, and means operated by said rotary means actuating saidknife to out said edge at regular overall speed.

3. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a rotarydrive shaft, a knife, a support for a shoe edge, means operated by saidshaft to actuate said knife at an inclination to said support, a feedelement for feeding the shoe edge in relation to said knife, means foroperating said element comprising an eccentric on said shaft and anoperative connection between said eccentric and element, and control'means for varying the extent of feeding by said feed element, saidcontrol means comprising a rod mounted for axial displacement in saidshaft, a manually operable lever for controlling the axial position ofsaid rod, said lever having a forked end, motion-transmitting means onsaid shaft and connecting said forked end to said rod and a connectionbetween said rod and said eccentric, said connection serving to displacesaid eccentric to vary its eccentricity on axial displacement of saidrod.

4. Edge-cutting mechanism according to claim 3, in which said forked endis formed with a recess and in which said motion-transmitting meanscomprise a ring abutting said forked end, an annular member connected tosaid rod and axially displaceable on said shaft, a fibre washersandwiched between said ring and member, and a projection on said ringengaging said recess to hold said ring against rotation with said shaft.

5. Edge-cutting mechanism according to claim 3, in which saidmotion-transmitting means'inelude a flanged member on said shaft, a pinconnecting said member to said rod and a slot in said shaft throughwhich said pin passes to permit axial displacement of said member onsaid shaft.

6. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a rotarydrive shaft, a knife, a support for a shoe edge, means operated by saidshaft to actuate said knife, feed means for feeding the shoe edge inrelation to said knife, said feed means comprising a shoe-engaging feedelement mounted for movement toandfro, an eccentric on said shaft and anoperative connection between said eccentric and said feed element, andcontrol means for varying the extent of feeding by said element, saidcontrol means including an axially displaceable member in said shaft, aninclined device in said member and a connection in said eccentricbetween it and said member for displacing said eccentric to vary itseccentricity.

'7. Edge-cutting mechanism according to claim 6 in which manuallyoperable means associated with said shaft are operatively connected tosaid axially displaceable member for its displacement in one direction,and in which a spring mounted in said shaft urges said member in theopposite direction.

8. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a knife,a support for a shoe edge, feed means for feeding the shoe edge to saidknife, a holder for'said knife, a guide in which said holder and knifeare reciprocable in a direction of cut inclined to said support, meansfor reciprocating said holder and knife to out said shoe edge at saidinclination, and a segment on which said guide is mounted and isadjustable to vary the inclination of said direction of cut.

9. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a rotarydrive shaft, a knife, a support for a shoe edge, feed means operated bysaid shaft for feeding the shoe edge to said knife, a holder for saidknife, a guide in which said holder is reciprocable at an inclination tosaid support, knife-reciprocating means operated by said shaft, saidknife-reciprocating means including a lever fulorumed to pivot on saidguide and operatively connected to said shaft and a journal turnablymounted in said holder and slidably engaged by said lever, and means foradjusting the angular relationship of said guide to said support inorder to vary said inclination.

10. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a mainrotary, shaft, a support for a shoe whose edge is to be out, a knife,means guiding said knife for movement at an inclination to said support,a counter-knife thereon co-operating with said knife, knife-drivingmeans for reciprocating said knife in said knife-guiding means, saidknife-driving means comprising a crank rotated by said shaft, a pitmanof adjustable length operated by said crank,

and a lever inter-connecting said pitman and knife, said lever beingfulcrumed in said knifeguiding means, a segmental element on which saidknife-guiding means is mounted and is angularly adjustable to vary saidinclination, a shoe-engaging feed-foot mounted in relation to saidsupport for motion including a to-and-fro feed-motion whereby said shoeedge is fed stepwise to said knife and counter-knife, operating meansfor imparting said feed-motion to said feed-foot, said operatingmechanism comprising an eccentric on and rotating with said shaft, anelement embracing and actuated by said eccentric and an operativeconnection between said element and said feed-foot, and mean foradjusting the extent of said stepwise feed-motion comprising an axiallydisplaceable rod in said shaft, a manually turnable lever forcontrolling axial displacement of said rod in both directions, a camdevice on said rod, a carrier on said shaft to which said eccentric ispivotally attached so that its eccentricity can be varied by pivotaladjustment of the eccentric, and a connection between said cam deviceand said eccentric for pivotally adjusting it under the control of saidmanually turnable lever and said rod.

11. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a rotaryshaft, a support for a shoe Whose edge is to be cut, a knife, meansguiding said knife for movement at an inclination to said support, acounter-knife thereon cooperating with said knife, knife-driving meansoperated by said shaft to reciprocate said knife in said knife-guidingmeans, an element on which said knife-guiding means is mounted and isangularly adjustable to vary said inclination, a shoe-engaging feed-footmounted in relation to said support for motion including a to-and-frofeed-motion whereby said shoe edge is fed stepwise to said knife andcounter-knife, operating means driven by said shaft to impart saidtoand-fro feed-motion to said feed-foot, and means applied to thelast-stated operating means for adjusting the extent of the to-and-fromotion of said feed-foot.

l2. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a rotaryshaft, a support for a shoe whose edge is to be cut, cutting meansoperated by said shaft and mounted adjacent said support, ashoe-engaging feed-foot mounted in relation to said support for motionincluding a to-and-fro feed-motion whereby said shoe edge is fedstepwise to said cutting means, operating means for imparting saidfeed-motion to said feed-foot, said operating mechanism comprising aneccentric on and rotating with said shaft, an element embracing andactuated by said eccentric and an operative connection between saidelement and said feed-foot, and means for adjusting the extent of saidstepwise feed-motion comprising an axially displaceable rod in saidshaft, a manually turnable lever for controlling axial displacement ofsaid rod in both directions, a cam device on said rod, a carrier on saidshaft to which said eccentric is pivotally attached so that itseccentricity can be varied by pivotal adjustment of the eccentric, and aconnection between said cam device and said eccentric for pivotallyadjusting it under the control of said manually turnable lever and saidrod.

13. Edge-cutting mechanism for shoes, said mechanism comprising a rotaryshaft, a support for a shoe whose edge is to be cut, a knife, meansguiding said knife in relation to said support, a counter-knife thereonco-operating with said knife, knife-driving means for reciprocating saidknife in said knife-guiding means, said knifedriving means comprising acrank rotated by said shaft, a pitman of adjustable length operated bysaid crank, and a lever inter-connecting said pitman and knife, saidlever being fulcrumed in said knife-guiding means, a shoe-engagingfeed-foot mounted in relation to said support for motion including ato-and-fro feed-moe tion whereby said shoe edge is fed stepwise to saidknife and counter-knife, and operating means driven by said shaft toimpart said feedmotion to said feed-foot.

JOHN HOZA,

